Powershell.com – Powershell Scripts, Tips and Resources

Setting password to never expire

Richard Siddaway's Blog — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 19:01:22 GMT

Most AD accounts have to change their password on a regular basis determined by the security policy(s) in place on the domain. In Windows 2008 & above fine grained password policies enable multiple password policies – we’ll cover working with them Read More......(read more)

Get-ChildItem and the–Include and –Filter parameters

Under The Stairs — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 17:31:00 GMT

I saw a good question the other day in the PowerShell.Com Learn PowerShell Forum which related to using –Include when calling Get-ChildItem (or DIR, or LS!). The OP had a bunch of files in a folder (C:\Data) and wanted to get at just the *.txt files as Read More......(read more)

Learn Keyboard Tricks to Use the PowerShell ISE Easier

Hey, Scripting Guy! Blog : Windows PowerShell — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 08:01:00 GMT

Summary : Learn how to use the Windows PowerShell ISE more effectively by leveraging keyboard shortcuts. Hey, Scripting Guy! I am the network administrator for a large company, and we have to go through very rigorous testing before we can download and Read More......(read more)

Test-FileOpen

PowerShell Scripts Blog — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 20:17:00 GMT

< # .SYNOPSIS This script defines a function that tests to see if a file is open. .DESCRIPTION This script used the System.Io.FileStream class and the FileInfo class to try to open a file stream for write. If it fails, we return $false , Read More......(read more)

Removing the user must change password setting

Richard Siddaway's Blog — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 19:38:57 GMT

It may become necessary to remove the user must change password setting. This is achieved by setting the pwdLastSet attribute to –1 $ou = "OU=England,DC=Manticore,DC=org" "`nMicrosoft" $name = "UserA" Get-ADUser -Identity Read More......(read more)

Discovering users that must change their password

Richard Siddaway's Blog — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 19:34:48 GMT

Sometimes you may need to discover which users have the setting to change their password at the next logon activated $ou = "OU=England,DC=Manticore,DC=org" "`nMicrosoft" Get-ADUser -Filter { pwdLastSet -eq 0 } | Format-Table Read More......(read more)

Set User Must Change Password at Next Logon

Richard Siddaway's Blog — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 19:23:47 GMT

On the account tab of the AD user properties dialog are a number of tick boxes including: Change password at next logon Cannot change password Password never expires Account is disabled We have seen how to enable and disable accounts. We will look at Read More......(read more)

Ping a Service with PowerShell

The Lonely Administrator — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 15:42:03 GMT

The other day I came across a PowerShell question on StackOverflow about testing if a service was running on a group of machines.This sparked an idea for a tool to “ping” a service, in much the same way we ping … Continue reading → Read More......(read more)

Learn How to Use the Free PowerShell ISE to Edit Scripts

Hey, Scripting Guy! Blog : Windows PowerShell — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 08:01:00 GMT

Summary : Learn about using the Windows PowerShell ISE to edit scripts, and to modify the script execution policy in this step-by-step blog. Hey, Scripting Guy! I have a problem. I was following your blog yesterday about typing long commands inside the Read More......(read more)

Inbound replication

Richard Siddaway's Blog — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 12:29:46 GMT

Continuing round the MicrosoftActiveDirectory namespace we get to the MSAD_ReplCursor class which provides inbound replication state information about all replicas of a Naming Context Get-WmiObject -Namespace root\MicrosoftActiveDirectory -Class Read More......(read more)

Automating replication testing

Richard Siddaway's Blog — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 10:59:23 GMT

Building on the recent post about testing replication I though a bit more automation was needed. Lets create a function to discover the domain controllers function get-DomainControllerNames { $dom = [System.DirectoryServices.ActiveDirectory.Domain] : Read More......(read more)

Use the PowerShell ISE to Work with Long Commands

Hey, Scripting Guy! Blog : Windows PowerShell — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 08:01:00 GMT

Summary : Learn how to use the Windows PowerShell ISE to work with long commands and make things easier to understand. Hey, Scripting Guy! I don’t get the purpose of the Windows PowerShell ISE. I mean, we have the Windows PowerShell console, and Read More......(read more)

Passing no parameters

Richard Siddaway's Blog — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 21:23:19 GMT

This was interesting question on the forum – user wants to retrieve something by name or id and if neither are given then return all objects. This is similar to Get-Process powershell Get-Process -Id 1568 Get-Process In the first two we filter on Read More......(read more)

Testing replication

Richard Siddaway's Blog — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 20:04:58 GMT

We’ve seen a few things we can do with the WMI provider for Active Directory. One of the most useful is testing replication function test-replication { [ CmdletBinding ( ) ] param ( [string] $computername = $env:COMPUTERNAME ) Get-WmiObject -Namespace Read More......(read more)

Unlocking AD accounts

Richard Siddaway's Blog — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 19:45:44 GMT

We’ve seen how to find locked accounts – unlocking via the cmdlets is just as easy Search-ADAccount -LockedOut | Unlock-ADAccount -WhatIf Get-QADUser -Locked | foreach {Unlock-ADAccount -Identity $_.DN -WhatIf} In both cases I’ve used –Whatif to Read More......(read more)

Finding Locked out users

Richard Siddaway's Blog — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 19:39:19 GMT

This is an ugly one due to the way the AccountLockoutTime attribute is stored and what it means. The situation is further complicated because with Windows 2008 and above you can have multiple account lock out policies due to Fine Grained Password polices Read More......(read more)

PAM release February 2012

Richard Siddaway's Blog — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 12:41:48 GMT

I have added another module to the PowerShell Admin Modules - http://psam.codeplex.com/ Release 0.7 adds a PAMHostsFile module with the following members add-hostfilecontent add-IPv6hostfilecontent clear-hostfilecontent get-hostfilecontent remove Read More......(read more)

Training for the Scripting Games

Richard Siddaway's Blog — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 10:00:05 GMT

Like all sporting events you need to train before participating – as part of your training follow the links on the sites in my previous post http://msmvps.com/blogs/richardsiddaway/archive/2012/02/04/scripting-games-2012-link-page.aspx and also use these Read More......(read more)

2012 Scripting Games Study Guide: A Resource for Learning PowerShell

Hey, Scripting Guy! Blog : Windows PowerShell — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 08:01:00 GMT

Summary : The 2012 Windows PowerShell Scripting Games Study Guide is a great resource that points to important sources for learning Windows PowerShell. Microsoft Scripting Guy, Ed Wilson, is here. The 2012 Scripting Games happen April 2 – April Read More......(read more)

Find user accounts that are disabled

Richard Siddaway's Blog — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 19:03:54 GMT

Many organisations disable user accounts when a user leaves – often those accounts will remain cluttering AD for years. How can we find them? "`nMicrosoft" Get-ADUser -LDAPFilter { ( useraccountcontrol:1.2.840.113556.1.4.803:=2 ) } | select Read More......(read more)

Getting unique values

Richard Siddaway's Blog — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 18:50:18 GMT

A question came up on the forum about getting the list of unique verbs in the cmdlets on their system. This is a good example of finding unique values. On my system (Get-Command -Verb get ).count returns 49 – but I only want the verb “get” to feature Read More......(read more)

Scripting Games 2012–link page

Richard Siddaway's Blog — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 15:30:22 GMT

The 2012 Scripting Games were announced http://blogs.technet.com/b/heyscriptingguy/archive/2012/01/30/scripting-guys-announce-the-2012-powershell-scripting-games.aspx They will start on 2 April – with events released to schedule after that. The usual Read More......(read more)

The 2012 Windows PowerShell Scripting Games: All Links on One Page

Hey, Scripting Guy! Blog : Windows PowerShell — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 08:01:00 GMT

Summary : The All Links on One Page for the 2012 Windows PowerShell Scripting Games is essential for monitoring the latest information about the games. Microsoft Scripting Guy, Ed Wilson, is here. The 2012 Windows PowerShell Scripting Games begin on April Read More......(read more)

Grab the 2012 Scripting Games Badge!

Hey, Scripting Guy! Blog : Windows PowerShell — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 08:01:00 GMT

Please show your s upport for the 2012 Scripting Games by linking back to us! Copy the following code and paste it into your blog! <a href="http://blogs.technet.com/heyscriptingguy/archive/tags/2012+Scripting+Games/default.aspx"><img Read More......(read more)

Outline for the PowerShell v3 Reference by Don Jones, Jeffery Hicks, and Richard Siddaway

Don Jones — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 18:03:00 GMT

So, the following is the original proposed outline for our new book. It'll be out soon - watch my Twitter feed (@concentrateddon) for a 1-day discount code good for 50% off the $50 MSRP. That'll get you into the Preview Program (MEAP) with the publisher, meaning you get the book in PDF form with new chapters released over time. The initial release will be roughly 1/3 of the book.

Keep in mind as you read the below that the title will likely be different - this was just the proposal. The final outline may vary slightly, too, and some of what you'll read below is intended as notes to ourselves as we write. Also note that most chapters will have a bit more than this outline alludes to - as we wrote, we added what made sense at the time, but we haven't circled back to update the formal Table of Contents, yet.

But this should give you an idea of what to look forward to! The smart folks will nap the first-pass MEAP when it's released (watch my Twitter feed). You'll get in at half-price, and have an opportunity to influence the book content by providing us with your feedback on what you read.

Sorry this isn't in more outline form - pasting from Word into the blog editor is touchy.

So here it is...

0 0 1 854 4872 Concentrated Technology 40 11 5715 14.0 Normal 0 false false false EN-US JA X-NONE

Windows PowerShell v3 in Depth

by Don Jones, Richard Siddaway, and Jeffery Hicks

The purpose of this book is to serve as an exhaustive reference to everything an administrator might need to do in PowerShell. This doesn’t focus on Active Directory, or Exchange, or any other specific product. Instead, it’s how to use the techniques of PowerShell itself, in an extremely detailed- and example-laden fashion.

This book picks up where Learn Windows PowerShell in a Month of Lunches leaves off. It covers more advanced material, as well as providing more complete and detailed coverage of core materials. This book complements the In Practice title by providing more depth on the core PowerShell techniques that are used in that book. Best of all, this book provides an anchor for other domain-specific In Practice titles by providing a definitive reference other authors can point to, allowing those authors to focus on their domain-specific tasks in a more cookbook fashion, rather than having to re-explain the same concepts and techniques over and over.

1. Introduction

2. PowerShell Hosts

a. The Console

b. The Integrated Scripting Environment

c. Command History Buffer vs. PowerShell’s History

d. Transcripts

3. Using the PowerShell Help System

a. Local

b. Online

c. Updating help

d. Graphical help file

e. *whatif, confirm, passthru

f. *common params

4. The Basics of PowerShell Syntax

a. Commands

b. Parameters

c. Parenthetical Commands/Expressions

d. Aliases

e. ScriptBlocks

5. Working with PSSnapins and Modules

a. Discovering Extensions

b. Loading Extensions

c. Learning About Extensions

d. Managing Module AutoDiscovery

e. Customizing Module Locations

6. Operators

a. Logical and Comparison Operators

b. Grouping and Subexpressions

c. Mathematical Operators

d. Other Operators

7. Working with Objects

a. Introduction to Objects

b. Members: Properties and Methods
(including Get-Member)

c. Sorting

d. Selecting

e. Filtering
including syntax changes for where-object

f. Grouping

g. Measuring

h. Enumerating

i. Importing, Exporting, and Converting

8. The PowerShell Pipeline

a. How the Pipeline Works

b. Parameter Binding ByValue

c. Parameter Binding ByPropertyName

d. Troubleshooting Parameter Binding by Using Trace-Command

e. The Pipeline with External Commands

9. Formatting

a. The Default Formatting System

b. The Formatting Cmdlets

c. Custom and Calculated Columns and List Entries (and vs. Select)

10. Remote Control

a. Introduction: The Many Forms of Remote Control
(differences between Remoting and anything with a –comp param)

b. About Remoting, WS-MAN, and WinRM

c. Using Remoting

d. Securing and Configuring Remoting

e. Sessions and Session Options

f. Implicit Remoting

g. WinRM Endpoints

h. CIM Sessions

i. 2^nd hop / Using CredSSP

j. **v3: WSMAN cmdlets, configuration, etc.

11. Background Jobs and Scheduling

a. Remoting-Based Jobs

b. Scheduled Jobs

c. WMI-Based Jobs

12. Working with Credentials

a. About Credentials

b. Using Credentials

13. Regular Expressions

a. Basic RegEx Syntax

b. Going Further With a RegEx

c. The –match Operator

d. The Select-String Cmdlet

14. Working with XML and HTML Data

a. Reading XML

b. Modifying and Saving XML

c. Creating XML files

15. PSProviders and PSDrives

a. What are PSProviders?

b. What are PSDrives?

c. Navigating a PSDrive

d. Transactional Operations

e. Every Drive is Different

f. Create your own drive

16. Variables, Arrays, and Hashtables

a. Variables

b. Built-In Variables

c. Arrays

d. Hashtables and Ordered Hashtables

17. PowerShell Security

a. Security Goals and Mechanisms

b. Execution Policy

18. Advanced PowerShell Syntax

a. Splatting

b. Running External Utilities

c. $($this)

d. Parameter Defaults

e. ?

19. PowerShell’s Scripting Language

a. Defining Conditions

b. Loops: For, Do, While, Until

c. ForEach

d. Break and Continue

e. Switch

f. If

20. Basic Scripts and Functions

a. Execution Lifecycle

b. Accepting Input

c. Creating Output

d. “Filtering” Scripts and Functions

21. Creating Objects for Output

a. Why Output Objects?

b. Syntax for Creating Custom Objects (ALL!)

c. Complex Objects: Collections as Properties

d. Applying a Type Name to Custom Objects

e. Script Design Guidelines

22. Scope

a. Understanding Scope

b. Observing Scope in Action

c. Manipulating Cross-Scope Elements

d. Being Strict

23. PowerShell Workflow

24. Advanced Syntax for Scripts and Functions

a. Advanced Parameters

b. Parameter Aliases

c. Parameter Validation

d. Parameter Sets

e. Verbose Output

25. Script Modules and Manifest Modules

26. Custom Formatting Views

27. Custom Type Extensions

28. Data Language and Internationalization

29. Writing Help

a. Using Comment-Based Help

b. Creating “Real” Help Files

30. Error Handling Techniques

a. About Errors and Exceptions

b. Using $ErrorActionPreference and –ErrorAction

c. Using –ErrorVariable

d. Trap Constructs

e. Try…Catch…Finally Constructs

31. Debugging Techniques

a. Write-Debug

b. Breakpoints

c. Debugging in Third-Party Editors

32. Scripts and Functions That Work Like Cmdlets
(this is mainly a new, more full example of what’s come before, combining several key things into a single practical example)

a. Building the Basic Function

b. Creating Output

c. Dealing with Pipeline Processing

d. Adding Error Handling

e. Adding Debugging Stops

f. Adding Help

g. Creating a Custom View

h. Creating Type Extensions

33. Tips and Tricks for Creating Reports

a. Working With HTML Fragments and Files

b. Sending E-Mail

34. Working with Component Object Model (COM)

a. Discovering COM Objects

b. Instantiating COM Objects in PowerShell

c. Accessing and Using COM Object Members

35. Working with .NET Framework Objects and Events

a. Classes, Instances, and Members

b. .NET Framework Syntax in PowerShell

c. Static Members of Classes

d. Creating and Working with Instances

36. Accessing Databases

a. Native SQL vs. OleDB

b. Connecting to Data Sources

c. Querying Data

d. Adding, Changing, and Deleting Data

e. Calling Stored Procedures

f. Example: Databases with DataAdapters

g. Example: Databases with DataReaders

37. Proxy Functions

a. The Purpose of Proxy Functions

b. Elements of a Proxy Function

c. Example Proxy Function

38. Building a GUI

a. PrimalForms

b. ShowUI

39. Delegated Administration

40. Best Practices Summary
(BP’s will be outlined throughout; this merely collects them in one place)